LOTTERY FUNDS NEEDED FOR RAVENS STADIUM NEVER MORE?

The MD Stadium Authority (MSA), which is building a
$220M stadium for the Ravens next to Oriole Park at Camden
Yards, "may not need as much money as it thought," according
to Jon Morgan of the Baltimore SUN. The MSA is "consuming"
$32M a year in lottery funds, and the "financial plan has
always assumed a gradual reduction in the need for lottery
money." MSA Exec Dir Bruce Hoffman said that "reduction is
now projected to begin in fiscal year 2000 and possibly
reach zero as soon as 2013." Morgan writes that projected
revenues "are stronger than expected from parking, party
rentals at the stadiums, rental of office space in the
warehouse adjacent to Oriole Park, and of the baseball
museum scheduled to be built at Camden Station" (SUN, 1/22).